By Lori BODNAR, intern

Local Rosemont Middle School seventh grade students Sammy Arias and Elijah Bursch recently won first place at the Glendale Unified School District Invention Convention. GUSD hosted its 27^th Annual Invention Convention for students in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program. The GATE program provides unique education opportunities for high-achieving students. The Invention Convention is an annual event open to GATE students from fifth to eighth grade. Invention Convention teaches students problem identification, problem solving, creativity and entrepreneurship, and builds confidence through invention and innovation. There were 62 inventions created by 75 student participants this year despite the virtual format. Rosabel Parks led the Invention Convention student group from Rosemont Middle School.

The inventions were judged by Rotary Club members with experience in engineering, computer science, law and business as well as Glendale Unified School District personnel with previous classroom experience. All participants received a participation ribbon. Medallions were presented to first, second, and third place awardees.

Sammy Arias and Elijah Bursch together made a Pet Diversion Apparatus and won first place for seventh grade. They worked on their invention over winter break and finished the project in a month.

“Our project was designed to divert pets from interrupting important Zoom meetings, disturbing games, or waking you up at night,” explained Sammy.

“Sammy and I came up with the idea because my cat, Pushka, had been waking my parents up at night and had been disturbing my board game setups, so we were trying to solve those problems,” added Elijah. “I came up with the idea to repurpose an old Spy Gear™ detector for our project, and Sammy came up with the idea for the box. My grandpa has been teaching me how to build circuits with Arduino, and he helped me design the circuit we used to trigger the box so it released treats for pets.”

The virtual format didn’t affect the boys’ creativity.

“Even though we couldn’t work on the project in person, we had a good idea and were able to execute it well, so it was still fun,” said Sammy.

This year’s competition was the second time Elijah participated. Both years he won first place.

“The major difference this year was that Sammy and I were working over Google Meet, whereas I was working with my partners in person last year,” Elijah said. “I liked doing a Google Slides presentation instead of a poster board. In future years, I hope they keep the slides, but we still give our inventions to the judges to inspect.”

Other student winners included for fifth grade: Sienna Rho (3^rd Place, “The Lykatreea” to slow climate change), Indra Phukan (2^nd Place, “Water Genie” invention using electric circuits to identify plant watering times), Isabella Mathis (1^st Place, “The Re-Paperator” to recycle paper). Sixth grade winners include Sasha Tae (3^rd Place, “The Shelter Blanket” for warmth/shelter), Daniel Khachatryan and Narek Jaytyan (2^nd Place, “Table-Top Trash Bag” table-cover invention that doubles as a trash bag for easy cleanup), Alexander Yoon, Emma Park, and Irene Sung (1^st Place team invention “Musixtender Pro” music stand accessory to hold additional items). Seventh grade winners include Vitaly Vakhteev (3^rd Place “Infrared Bird Feeder”), Gianna Grace Huartson (2^nd Place “Phone-A-Parent” application), Sammy Arias and Elijah Bursch (1^st Place, “Pet Diversion Apparatus”). Eighth grade winners include Ethan Chang and Rohan Gopala (2^nd Place, “Mechanical Manual Personal Computer Cooling 1.0” fan) and Eleonora Martirosyan (1^st Place, “The Small Sprinkler System” using solar power to water small plants).

GUSD teacher specialist Dr. Narineh Hakopian helped organize and host the virtual format Invention Convention and students submitted their inventions through Google Slide presentations in Google Classroom. She thanked all the students for their hard work and dedication during the virtual award ceremony.

Dr. Armina Gharpetian, president of the GUSD Board of Education, also thanked the teachers and family members who inspired and supported the students. Superintendent Dr. Vivian Ekchian and Dr. Marine Avagyan, director of Equity, Access, & Family Engagement, thanked the students for their hard work, creativity and ingenuity.